Letter: Immigration rules apply to all

Every time there is a highly publicized shooting, it is followed immediately by an outcry demanding new, stricter gun legislation.

That, in turn, is followed by a rush at the gun shops by customers who want to stock up before doing so becomes more difficult.

Likewise, any campaign to reform our immigration laws seems to encourage new waves of illegal immigration — people who want to get inside our boundaries in time to be included in the amnesty that seems to be a part of every reform proposal.

If a citizen of some European country wanted to move to the United States and become a citizen here, he would have to apply to his own government for a passport, apply to our government for a visa, wait to find a place within our quota system, and then live here for a number of years before becoming eligible for citizenship. Amnesty granted to anyone who does not follow those procedures is a disservice to those who do follow them.

If we could make it clear that there will be no amnesty to illegal immigrants and that all such persons — including unaccompanied children and people who have been here a while — would be promptly returned to country of origin, there would no longer be motivation to get into this country before the law changes.